Enhancement for SMTC Configuration for New Radio

ABSTRACT

An apparatus of a next generation Node B (gNB) comprises one or more baseband processors to generate an indication for a user equipment (UE) to indicate which synchronization signal block (SSB) based measurement timing configuration (SMTC) occasion can be used by the UE for one or more measurements, and to send the indication to the UE. The apparatus can include a memory to store the indication.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application claims the benefit of U.S. ProvisionalApplication No. 62/765,196 (AB4431-Z) filed Aug. 20, 2018. SaidApplication No. 62/765,196 is hereby incorporated herein by reference inits entirety.

BACKGROUND

In the New Radio (NR) system, the synchronization signal block (SSB)based measurement timing configuration (SMTC) pattern is used toconfigure a user equipment (UE) to conduct the measurement for referencesignal, for example SSB, but if on intra-frequency layer different SSBperiodicities are used by different cells, on some of the SMTC occasionsthe UE might be not able to see all the SSBs of cells.

If the SSB periodicity of Cell 1/2/3/4 is 40 milliseconds (ms) and SMTCperiodicity is 10 ms, the SMTC occasions or windows can cover all theSSBs from cell 1/2/3/4, but in one certain SMTC occasion, only one SSBcan be covered. Since the UE has no information about which SSB can beobserved in which SMTC occasion, it may cause some problems for UEimplementation, for example physical layer filtering for measurement.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIGURES

Claimed subject matter is particularly pointed out and distinctlyclaimed in the concluding portion of the specification. Such subjectmatter may be understood by reference to the following detaileddescription when read with the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a diagram of an example SMTC configuration showing SMTCoccasions in accordance with one or more embodiments;

FIG. 2 is a diagram of an example of an SMTC configuration with unfixedRS periodicity for cells in accordance with one or more embodiments.

FIG. 3 illustrates an architecture of a system of a network inaccordance with some embodiments.

FIG. 4 illustrates example components of a device 400 in accordance withsome embodiments.

FIG. 5 illustrates example interfaces of baseband circuitry inaccordance with some embodiments.

It will be appreciated that for simplicity and/or clarity ofillustration, elements illustrated in the figures have not necessarilybeen drawn to scale. For example, the dimensions of some of the elementsmay be exaggerated relative to other elements for clarity. Further, ifconsidered appropriate, reference numerals have been repeated among thefigures to indicate corresponding and/or analogous elements.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In the following detailed description, numerous specific details are setforth to provide a thorough understanding of claimed subject matter. Itwill, however, be understood by those skilled in the art that claimedsubject matter may be practiced without these specific details. In otherinstances, well-known methods, procedures, components and/or circuitshave not been described in detail.

In the following description and/or claims, the terms coupled and/orconnected, along with their derivatives, may be used. In particularembodiments, connected may be used to indicate that two or more elementsare in direct physical and/or electrical contact with each other.Coupled may mean that two or more elements are in direct physical and/orelectrical contact. However, coupled may also mean that two or moreelements may not be in direct contact with each other, but yet may stillcooperate and/or interact with each other. For example, “coupled” maymean that two or more elements do not contact each other but areindirectly joined together via another element or intermediate elements.Finally, the terms “on,” “overlying,” and “over” may be used in thefollowing description and claims. “On,” “overlying,” and “over” may beused to indicate that two or more elements are in direct physicalcontact with each other. It should be noted, however, that “over” mayalso mean that two or more elements are not in direct contact with eachother. For example, “over” may mean that one element is above anotherelement but not contact each other and may have another element orelements in between the two elements. Furthermore, the term “and/or” maymean “and”, it may mean “or”, it may mean “exclusive-or”, it may mean“one”, it may mean “some, but not all”, it may mean “neither”, and/or itmay mean “both”, although the scope of claimed subject matter is notlimited in this respect. In the following description and/or claims, theterms “comprise” and “include,” along with their derivatives, may beused and are intended as synonyms for each other.

Referring now to FIG. 1, a diagram of an example SMTC configurationshowing SMTC occasions in accordance with one or more embodiments willbe discussed. In the SMTC configuration 100 of FIG. 1, an indicationmechanism can be used to indicate which of the SMTC occasions 110, suchas SMTC occasion #1 through SMTC occasion #8, can be used for acorresponding cell measurement, synchronization signal block (SSB)measurement, or channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS)measurement. For example, a bitmap can be signaled associated with aspecific cell, SSB, or CSI-RS to the user equipment (UE).

As shown in FIG. 1, the SSB of frequency F1 for Cell 1 can be measuredin SMTC occasion #1 and SMTC #5 only corresponding to SSB 112, so thenetwork can indicate this time information to the UE. In or moreembodiments, the indication from the network can be transmitted from aFifth Generation (5G) or next generation NodeB (gNB) to the UE. Such anindication from the network can be carried by a bitmap. For example, inFIG. 1 the bitmap for Cell 1 measurement could be “10001000” which meansSSB or CSI-RS from Cell 1 can be covered by SMTC occasion #1 and SMTCoccasion #5. The bitmap of SMTC for Cell 2 measurement can be “01000100”for SMTC occasion #2 and SMTC occasion #6 corresponding to SSB 114. Thebitmap of SMTC for the Cell 3 measurement can be 00100010” for SMTCoccasion #3 and SMTC occasion #7 corresponding to SSB 116. The bitmap ofSMTC for the Cell 4 measurement can be “00010001” for SMTC occasion #4and SMTC occasion #8 corresponding to SSB 118.

FIG. 2 is a diagram of an example of an SMTC configuration with unfixedRS periodicity for cells in accordance with one or more embodiments. Inthe SMTC configuration 200, for measurement gap based measurement, thenetwork can configure a different time interval between any tworeference signals (RSs), for example SSB signals, for one specific cell.In such arrangement, the periodicity of RS is not fixed for one specificcell. In one or more embodiments, the time interval can be configured bythe network wherein a gNB of the network can transmit a configurationmessage to the UE to configure the time interval between RSs. As shownin FIG. 2, in the first 40 ms period, the order of reference signals(RS) for cells is RS 112 from cell 1 to RS 114 from cell 2 to RS 116from cell 3 to RS 118 from cell 4. In the second 40 ms period, the orderof reference signals for cells are RS 114 from cell 2 to RS 116 fromcell 3 to RS 118 from cell 4 to RS 112 from cell 1. Thus, theperiodicity of RS for one given cell is not fixed. Under thisconfiguration, the existing measurement gap repetition periodicity(MGRP), for example 20 ms, 40 ms, 80 ms, or 160 ms, can be used to coverall the RS signals from all the cells on the same frequency.

FIG. 3 illustrates an architecture of a system 300 of a network inaccordance with some embodiments. The system 300 is shown to include auser equipment (UE) 301 and a UE 302. The UEs 301 and 302 areillustrated as smartphones (e.g., handheld touchscreen mobile computingdevices connectable to one or more cellular networks) but may alsocomprise any mobile or non-mobile computing device, such as PersonalData Assistants (PDAs), pagers, laptop computers, desktop computers,wireless handsets, or any computing device including a wirelesscommunications interface.

In some embodiments, any of the UEs 301 and 302 can comprise an Internetof Things (IoT) UE, which can comprise a network access layer designedfor low-power IoT applications utilizing short-lived UE connections. AnIoT UE can utilize technologies such as machine-to-machine (M2M) ormachine-type communications (MTC) for exchanging data with an MTC serveror device via a public land mobile network (PLMN), Proximity-BasedService (ProSe) or device-to-device (D2D) communication, sensornetworks, or IoT networks. The M2M or MTC exchange of data may be amachine-initiated exchange of data. An IoT network describesinterconnecting IoT UEs, which may include uniquely identifiableembedded computing devices (within the Internet infrastructure), withshort-lived connections. The IoT UEs may execute background applications(e.g., keep-alive messages, status updates, etc.) to facilitate theconnections of the IoT network.

The UEs 301 and 302 may be configured to connect, e.g., communicativelycouple, with a radio access network (RAN) 310—the RAN 310 may be, forexample, an Evolved Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS)Terrestrial Radio Access Network (E-UTRAN), a NextGen RAN (NG RAN), orsome other type of RAN. The UEs 301 and 302 utilize connections 303 and304, respectively, each of which comprises a physical communicationsinterface or layer (discussed in further detail below); in this example,the connections 303 and 304 are illustrated as an air interface toenable communicative coupling, and can be consistent with cellularcommunications protocols, such as a Global System for MobileCommunications (GSM) protocol, a code-division multiple access (CDMA)network protocol, a Push-to-Talk (PTT) protocol, a PTT over Cellular(POC) protocol, a Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS)protocol, a 3GPP Long Term Evolution (LTE) protocol, a fifth generation(5G) protocol, a New Radio (NR) protocol, and the like.

In this embodiment, the UEs 301 and 302 may further directly exchangecommunication data via a ProSe interface 305. The ProSe interface 305may alternatively be referred to as a sidelink interface comprising oneor more logical channels, including but not limited to a PhysicalSidelink Control Channel (PSCCH), a Physical Sidelink Shared Channel(PSSCH), a Physical Sidelink Discovery Channel (PSDCH), and a PhysicalSidelink Broadcast Channel (PSBCH).

The UE 302 is shown to be configured to access an access point (AP) 306via connection 307. The connection 307 can comprise a local wirelessconnection, such as a connection consistent with any IEEE 802.11protocol, wherein the AP 306 would comprise a wireless fidelity (WiFi®)router. In this example, the AP 306 is shown to be connected to theInternet without connecting to the core network of the wireless system(described in further detail below).

The RAN 310 can include one or more access nodes that enable theconnections 303 and 304. These access nodes (ANs) can be referred to asbase stations (BSs), NodeBs, evolved NodeBs (eNBs), next GenerationNodeBs (gNB), RAN nodes, and so forth, and can comprise ground stations(e.g., terrestrial access points) or satellite stations providingcoverage within a geographic area (e.g., a cell). The RAN 310 mayinclude one or more RAN nodes for providing macrocells, e.g., macro RANnode 311, and one or more RAN nodes for providing femtocells orpicocells (e.g., cells having smaller coverage areas, smaller usercapacity, or higher bandwidth compared to macrocells), e.g., low power(LP) RAN node 312.

Any of the RAN nodes 311 and 312 can terminate the air interfaceprotocol and can be the first point of contact for the UEs 301 and 302.In some embodiments, any of the RAN nodes 311 and 312 can fulfillvarious logical functions for the RAN 310 including, but not limited to,radio network controller (RNC) functions such as radio bearermanagement, uplink and downlink dynamic radio resource management anddata packet scheduling, and mobility management.

In accordance with some embodiments, the UEs 301 and 302 can beconfigured to communicate using Orthogonal Frequency-DivisionMultiplexing (OFDM) communication signals with each other or with any ofthe RAN nodes 311 and 312 over a multicarrier communication channel inaccordance various communication techniques, such as, but not limitedto, an Orthogonal Frequency-Division Multiple Access (OFDMA)communication technique (e.g., for downlink communications) or a SingleCarrier Frequency Division Multiple Access (SC-FDMA) communicationtechnique (e.g., for uplink and ProSe or sidelink communications),although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect.The OFDM signals can comprise a plurality of orthogonal subcarriers.

In some embodiments, a downlink resource grid can be used for downlinktransmissions from any of the RAN nodes 311 and 312 to the UEs 301 and302, while uplink transmissions can utilize similar techniques. The gridcan be a time-frequency grid, called a resource grid or time-frequencyresource grid, which is the physical resource in the downlink in eachslot. Such a time-frequency plane representation is a common practicefor OFDM systems, which makes it intuitive for radio resourceallocation. Each column and each row of the resource grid corresponds toone OFDM symbol and one OFDM subcarrier, respectively. The duration ofthe resource grid in the time domain corresponds to one slot in a radioframe. The smallest time-frequency unit in a resource grid is denoted asa resource element. Each resource grid comprises a number of resourceblocks, which describe the mapping of certain physical channels toresource elements. Each resource block comprises a collection ofresource elements; in the frequency domain, this may represent thesmallest quantity of resources that currently can be allocated. Thereare several different physical downlink channels that are conveyed usingsuch resource blocks.

The physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) may carry user data andhigher-layer signaling to the UEs 301 and 302. The physical downlinkcontrol channel (PDCCH) may carry information about the transport formatand resource allocations related to the PDSCH channel, among otherthings. It may also inform the UEs 301 and 302 about the transportformat, resource allocation, and H-ARQ (Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request)information related to the uplink shared channel. Typically, downlinkscheduling (assigning control and shared channel resource blocks to theUE 102 within a cell) may be performed at any of the RAN nodes 311 and312 based on channel quality information fed back from any of the UEs301 and 302. The downlink resource assignment information may be sent onthe PDCCH used for (e.g., assigned to) each of the UEs 301 and 302.

The PDCCH may use control channel elements (CCEs) to convey the controlinformation. Before being mapped to resource elements, the PDCCHcomplex-valued symbols may first be organized into quadruplets, whichmay then be permuted using a sub-block interleaver for rate matching.Each PDCCH may be transmitted using one or more of these CCEs, whereeach CCE may correspond to nine sets of four physical resource elementsknown as resource element groups (REGs). Four Quadrature Phase ShiftKeying (QPSK) symbols may be mapped to each REG. The PDCCH can betransmitted using one or more CCEs, depending on the size of thedownlink control information (DCI) and the channel condition. There canbe four or more different PDCCH formats defined in LTE with differentnumbers of CCEs (e.g., aggregation level, L=1, 2, 4, or 8).

Some embodiments may use concepts for resource allocation for controlchannel information that are an extension of the above-describedconcepts. For example, some embodiments may utilize an enhanced physicaldownlink control channel (EPDCCH) that uses PDSCH resources for controlinformation transmission. The EPDCCH may be transmitted using one ormore enhanced the control channel elements (ECCEs). Similar to above,each ECCE may correspond to nine sets of four physical resource elementsknown as an enhanced resource element groups (EREGs). An ECCE may haveother numbers of EREGs in some situations.

The RAN 310 is shown to be communicatively coupled to a core network(CN) 320—via an S1 interface 313. In embodiments, the CN 320 may be anevolved packet core (EPC) network, a NextGen Packet Core (NPC) network,or some other type of CN. In this embodiment the 51 interface 313 issplit into two parts: the S1-U interface 314, which carries traffic databetween the RAN nodes 311 and 312 and the serving gateway (S-GW) 322,and the S1-mobility management entity (MME) interface 315, which is asignaling interface between the RAN nodes 311 and 312 and MMEs 321.

In this embodiment, the CN 320 comprises the MMEs 321, the S-GW 322, thePacket Data Network (PDN) Gateway (P-GW) 323, and a home subscriberserver (HSS) 324. The MMEs 321 may be similar in function to the controlplane of legacy Serving General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) SupportNodes (SGSN). The MMEs 321 may manage mobility aspects in access such asgateway selection and tracking area list management. The HSS 324 maycomprise a database for network users, including subscription-relatedinformation to support the network entities' handling of communicationsessions. The CN 320 may comprise one or several HSSs 324, depending onthe number of mobile subscribers, on the capacity of the equipment, onthe organization of the network, etc. For example, the HSS 324 canprovide support for routing/roaming, authentication, authorization,naming/addressing resolution, location dependencies, etc.

The S-GW 322 may terminate the S1 interface 313 towards the RAN 310, androutes data packets between the RAN 310 and the CN 320. In addition, theS-GW 322 may be a local mobility anchor point for inter-RAN nodehandovers and also may provide an anchor for inter-3GPP mobility. Otherresponsibilities may include lawful intercept, charging, and some policyenforcement.

The P-GW 323 may terminate an SGi interface toward a PDN. The P-GW 323may route data packets between the EPC network 323 and external networkssuch as a network including the application server 330 (alternativelyreferred to as application function (AF)) via an Internet Protocol (IP)interface 325. Generally, the application server 330 may be an elementoffering applications that use IP bearer resources with the core network(e.g., UMTS Packet Services (PS) domain, LTE PS data services, etc.). Inthis embodiment, the P-GW 323 is shown to be communicatively coupled toan application server 330 via an IP communications interface 325. Theapplication server 330 can also be configured to support one or morecommunication services (e.g., Voice-over-Internet Protocol (VoIP)sessions, PTT sessions, group communication sessions, social networkingservices, etc.) for the UEs 301 and 302 via the CN 320.

The P-GW 323 may further be a node for policy enforcement and chargingdata collection. Policy and Charging Enforcement Function (PCRF) 326 isthe policy and charging control element of the CN 320. In a non-roamingscenario, there may be a single PCRF in the Home Public Land MobileNetwork (HPLMN) associated with a UE's Internet Protocol ConnectivityAccess Network (IP-CAN) session. In a roaming scenario with localbreakout of traffic, there may be two PCRFs associated with a UE'sIP-CAN session: a Home PCRF (H-PCRF) within a HPLMN and a Visited PCRF(V-PCRF) within a Visited Public Land Mobile Network (VPLMN). The PCRF326 may be communicatively coupled to the application server 330 via theP-GW 323. The application server 330 may signal the PCRF 326 to indicatea new service flow and select the appropriate Quality of Service (QoS)and charging parameters. The PCRF 326 may provision this rule into aPolicy and Charging Enforcement Function (PCEF) (not shown) with theappropriate traffic flow template (TFT) and QoS class of identifier(QCI), which commences the QoS and charging as specified by theapplication server 330.

FIG. 4 illustrates example components of a device 400 in accordance withsome embodiments. In some embodiments, the device 400 may includeapplication circuitry 402, baseband circuitry 404, Radio Frequency (RF)circuitry 406, front-end module (FEM) circuitry 408, one or moreantennas 410, and power management circuitry (PMC) 412 coupled togetherat least as shown. The components of the illustrated device 400 may beincluded in a UE or a RAN node. In some embodiments, the device 400 mayinclude less elements (e.g., a RAN node may not utilize applicationcircuitry 402, and instead include a processor/controller to process IPdata received from an EPC). In some embodiments, the device 400 mayinclude additional elements such as, for example, memory/storage,display, camera, sensor, or input/output (I/O) interface. In otherembodiments, the components described below may be included in more thanone device (e.g., said circuitries may be separately included in morethan one device for Cloud-RAN (C-RAN) implementations).

The application circuitry 402 may include one or more applicationprocessors. For example, the application circuitry 402 may includecircuitry such as, but not limited to, one or more single-core ormulti-core processors. The processor(s) may include any combination ofgeneral-purpose processors and dedicated processors (e.g., graphicsprocessors, application processors, etc.). The processors may be coupledwith or may include memory/storage and may be configured to executeinstructions stored in the memory/storage to enable various applicationsor operating systems to run on the device 400. In some embodiments,processors of application circuitry 402 may process IP data packetsreceived from an EPC.

The baseband circuitry 404 may include circuitry such as, but notlimited to, one or more single-core or multi-core processors. Thebaseband circuitry 404 may include one or more baseband processors orcontrol logic to process baseband signals received from a receive signalpath of the RF circuitry 406 and to generate baseband signals for atransmit signal path of the RF circuitry 406. Baseband processingcircuity 404 may interface with the application circuitry 402 forgeneration and processing of the baseband signals and for controllingoperations of the RF circuitry 406. For example, in some embodiments,the baseband circuitry 404 may include a third generation (3G) basebandprocessor 404A, a fourth generation (4G) baseband processor 404B, afifth generation (5G) baseband processor 404C, or other basebandprocessor(s) 404D for other existing generations, generations indevelopment or to be developed in the future (e.g., second generation(2G), sixth generation (6G), etc.). The baseband circuitry 404 (e.g.,one or more of baseband processors 404A-D) may handle various radiocontrol functions that enable communication with one or more radionetworks via the RF circuitry 406. In other embodiments, some or all ofthe functionality of baseband processors 404A-D may be included inmodules stored in the memory 404G and executed via a Central ProcessingUnit (CPU) 404E. The radio control functions may include, but are notlimited to, signal modulation/demodulation, encoding/decoding, radiofrequency shifting, etc. In some embodiments, modulation/demodulationcircuitry of the baseband circuitry 404 may include Fast-FourierTransform (FFT), precoding, or constellation mapping/demappingfunctionality. In some embodiments, encoding/decoding circuitry of thebaseband circuitry 404 may include convolution, tail-biting convolution,turbo, Viterbi, or Low Density Parity Check (LDPC) encoder/decoderfunctionality. Embodiments of modulation/demodulation andencoder/decoder functionality are not limited to these examples and mayinclude other suitable functionality in other embodiments.

In some embodiments, the baseband circuitry 404 may include one or moreaudio digital signal processor(s) (DSP) 404F. The audio DSP(s) 404F maybe include elements for compression/decompression and echo cancellationand may include other suitable processing elements in other embodiments.Components of the baseband circuitry may be suitably combined in asingle chip, a single chipset, or disposed on a same circuit board insome embodiments. In some embodiments, some or all of the constituentcomponents of the baseband circuitry 404 and the application circuitry402 may be implemented together such as, for example, on a system on achip (SOC).

In some embodiments, the baseband circuitry 404 may provide forcommunication compatible with one or more radio technologies. Forexample, in some embodiments, the baseband circuitry 404 may supportcommunication with an evolved universal terrestrial radio access network(EUTRAN) or other wireless metropolitan area networks (WMAN), a wirelesslocal area network (WLAN), a wireless personal area network (WPAN).Embodiments in which the baseband circuitry 404 is configured to supportradio communications of more than one wireless protocol may be referredto as multi-mode baseband circuitry.

RF circuitry 406 may enable communication with wireless networks usingmodulated electromagnetic radiation through a non-solid medium. Invarious embodiments, the RF circuitry 406 may include switches, filters,amplifiers, etc. to facilitate the communication with the wirelessnetwork. RF circuitry 406 may include a receive signal path which mayinclude circuitry to down-convert RF signals received from the FEMcircuitry 408 and provide baseband signals to the baseband circuitry404. RF circuitry 406 may also include a transmit signal path which mayinclude circuitry to up-convert baseband signals provided by thebaseband circuitry 404 and provide RF output signals to the FEMcircuitry 408 for transmission.

In some embodiments, the receive signal path of the RF circuitry 406 mayinclude mixer circuitry 406 a, amplifier circuitry 406 b and filtercircuitry 406 c. In some embodiments, the transmit signal path of the RFcircuitry 406 may include filter circuitry 406 c and mixer circuitry 406a. RF circuitry 406 may also include synthesizer circuitry 406 d forsynthesizing a frequency for use by the mixer circuitry 406 a of thereceive signal path and the transmit signal path. In some embodiments,the mixer circuitry 406 a of the receive signal path may be configuredto down-convert RF signals received from the FEM circuitry 408 based onthe synthesized frequency provided by synthesizer circuitry 406 d. Theamplifier circuitry 406 b may be configured to amplify thedown-converted signals and the filter circuitry 406 c may be a low-passfilter (LPF) or band-pass filter (BPF) configured to remove unwantedsignals from the down-converted signals to generate output basebandsignals. Output baseband signals may be provided to the basebandcircuitry 404 for further processing. In some embodiments, the outputbaseband signals may be zero-frequency baseband signals, although thisis not a requirement. In some embodiments, mixer circuitry 406 a of thereceive signal path may comprise passive mixers, although the scope ofthe embodiments is not limited in this respect.

In some embodiments, the mixer circuitry 406 a of the transmit signalpath may be configured to up-convert input baseband signals based on thesynthesized frequency provided by the synthesizer circuitry 406 d togenerate RF output signals for the FEM circuitry 408. The basebandsignals may be provided by the baseband circuitry 404 and may befiltered by filter circuitry 406 c.

In some embodiments, the mixer circuitry 406 a of the receive signalpath and the mixer circuitry 406 a of the transmit signal path mayinclude two or more mixers and may be arranged for quadraturedownconversion and upconversion, respectively. In some embodiments, themixer circuitry 406 a of the receive signal path and the mixer circuitry406 a of the transmit signal path may include two or more mixers and maybe arranged for image rejection (e.g., Hartley image rejection). In someembodiments, the mixer circuitry 406 a of the receive signal path andthe mixer circuitry 406 a may be arranged for direct downconversion anddirect upconversion, respectively. In some embodiments, the mixercircuitry 406 a of the receive signal path and the mixer circuitry 406 aof the transmit signal path may be configured for super-heterodyneoperation.

In some embodiments, the output baseband signals and the input basebandsignals may be analog baseband signals, although the scope of theembodiments is not limited in this respect. In some alternateembodiments, the output baseband signals and the input baseband signalsmay be digital baseband signals. In these alternate embodiments, the RFcircuitry 406 may include analog-to-digital converter (ADC) anddigital-to-analog converter (DAC) circuitry and the baseband circuitry404 may include a digital baseband interface to communicate with the RFcircuitry 406. In some dual-mode embodiments, a separate radio ICcircuitry may be provided for processing signals for each spectrum,although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect.

In some embodiments, the synthesizer circuitry 406 d may be afractional-N synthesizer or a fractional N/N+1 synthesizer, although thescope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect as other typesof frequency synthesizers may be suitable. For example, synthesizercircuitry 406 d may be a delta-sigma synthesizer, a frequencymultiplier, or a synthesizer comprising a phase-locked loop with afrequency divider.

The synthesizer circuitry 406 d may be configured to synthesize anoutput frequency for use by the mixer circuitry 406 a of the RFcircuitry 406 based on a frequency input and a divider control input. Insome embodiments, the synthesizer circuitry 406 d may be a fractionalN/N+1 synthesizer.

In some embodiments, frequency input may be provided by avoltage-controlled oscillator (VCO), although that is not a requirement.Divider control input may be provided by either the baseband circuitry404 or the applications processor 402 depending on the desired outputfrequency. In some embodiments, a divider control input (e.g., N) may bedetermined from a look-up table based on a channel indicated by theapplications processor 402.

Synthesizer circuitry 406 d of the RF circuitry 406 may include adivider, a delay-locked loop (DLL), a multiplexer and a phaseaccumulator. In some embodiments, the divider may be a dual modulusdivider (DMD) and the phase accumulator may be a digital phaseaccumulator (DPA). In some embodiments, the DMD may be configured todivide the input signal by either N or N+1 (e.g., based on a carry out)to provide a fractional division ratio. In some example embodiments, theDLL may include a set of cascaded, tunable, delay elements, a phasedetector, a charge pump and a D-type flip-flop. In these embodiments,the delay elements may be configured to break a VCO period up into Ndequal packets of phase, where Nd is the number of delay elements in thedelay line. In this way, the DLL provides negative feedback to helpensure that the total delay through the delay line is one VCO cycle.

In some embodiments, synthesizer circuitry 406 d may be configured togenerate a carrier frequency as the output frequency, while in otherembodiments, the output frequency may be a multiple of the carrierfrequency (e.g., twice the carrier frequency, four times the carrierfrequency) and used in conjunction with quadrature generator and dividercircuitry to generate multiple signals at the carrier frequency withmultiple different phases with respect to each other. In someembodiments, the output frequency may be a LO frequency (fLO). In someembodiments, the RF circuitry 406 may include an IQ/polar converter.

FEM circuitry 408 may include a receive signal path which may includecircuitry configured to operate on RF signals received from one or moreantennas 410, amplify the received signals and provide the amplifiedversions of the received signals to the RF circuitry 406 for furtherprocessing. FEM circuitry 408 may also include a transmit signal pathwhich may include circuitry configured to amplify signals fortransmission provided by the RF circuitry 406 for transmission by one ormore of the one or more antennas 410. In various embodiments, theamplification through the transmit or receive signal paths may be donesolely in the RF circuitry 406, solely in the FEM 408, or in both the RFcircuitry 406 and the FEM 408.

In some embodiments, the FEM circuitry 408 may include a TX/RX switch toswitch between transmit mode and receive mode operation. The FEMcircuitry may include a receive signal path and a transmit signal path.The receive signal path of the FEM circuitry may include an LNA toamplify received RF signals and provide the amplified received RFsignals as an output (e.g., to the RF circuitry 406). The transmitsignal path of the FEM circuitry 408 may include a power amplifier (PA)to amplify input RF signals (e.g., provided by RF circuitry 406), andone or more filters to generate RF signals for subsequent transmission(e.g., by one or more of the one or more antennas 410).

In some embodiments, the PMC 412 may manage power provided to thebaseband circuitry 404. In particular, the PMC 412 may controlpower-source selection, voltage scaling, battery charging, or DC-to-DCconversion. The PMC 412 may often be included when the device 400 iscapable of being powered by a battery, for example, when the device isincluded in a UE. The PMC 412 may increase the power conversionefficiency while providing desirable implementation size and heatdissipation characteristics.

While FIG. 4 shows the PMC 412 coupled only with the baseband circuitry404. However, in other embodiments, the PMC 412 may be additionally oralternatively coupled with, and perform similar power managementoperations for, other components such as, but not limited to,application circuitry 402, RF circuitry 406, or FEM 408.

In some embodiments, the PMC 412 may control, or otherwise be part of,various power saving mechanisms of the device 400. For example, if thedevice 400 is in an RRC Connected state, where it is still connected tothe RAN node as it expects to receive traffic shortly, then it may entera state known as Discontinuous Reception Mode (DRX) after a period ofinactivity. During this state, the device 400 may power down for briefintervals of time and thus save power.

If there is no data traffic activity for an extended period of time,then the device 400 may transition off to an RRC Idle state, where itdisconnects from the network and does not perform operations such aschannel quality feedback, handover, etc. The device 400 goes into a verylow power state and it performs paging where again it periodically wakesup to listen to the network and then powers down again. The device 400may not receive data in this state, in order to receive data, it musttransition back to RRC_Connected state.

An additional power saving mode may allow a device to be unavailable tothe network for periods longer than a paging interval (ranging fromseconds to a few hours). During this time, the device is totallyunreachable to the network and may power down completely. Any data sentduring this time incurs a large delay and it is assumed the delay isacceptable.

Processors of the application circuitry 402 and processors of thebaseband circuitry 404 may be used to execute elements of one or moreinstances of a protocol stack. For example, processors of the basebandcircuitry 404, alone or in combination, may be used execute Layer 3,Layer 2, or Layer 1 functionality, while processors of the applicationcircuitry 404 may utilize data (e.g., packet data) received from theselayers and further execute Layer 4 functionality (e.g., transmissioncommunication protocol (TCP) and user datagram protocol (UDP) layers).As referred to herein, Layer 3 may comprise a radio resource control(RRC) layer, described in further detail below. As referred to herein,Layer 2 may comprise a medium access control (MAC) layer, a radio linkcontrol (RLC) layer, and a packet data convergence protocol (PDCP)layer, described in further detail below. As referred to herein, Layer 1may comprise a physical (PHY) layer of a UE/RAN node, described infurther detail below.

FIG. 5 illustrates example interfaces of baseband circuitry inaccordance with some embodiments. As discussed above, the basebandcircuitry 404 of FIG. 4 may comprise processors 404A-404E and a memory404G utilized by said processors. Each of the processors 404A-404E mayinclude a memory interface, 504A-504E, respectively, to send/receivedata to/from the memory 404G.

The baseband circuitry 404 may further include one or more interfaces tocommunicatively couple to other circuitries/devices, such as a memoryinterface 512 (e.g., an interface to send/receive data to/from memoryexternal to the baseband circuitry 404), an application circuitryinterface 514 (e.g., an interface to send/receive data to/from theapplication circuitry 402 of FIG. 4), an RF circuitry interface 516(e.g., an interface to send/receive data to/from RF circuitry 406 ofFIG. 4), a wireless hardware connectivity interface 518 (e.g., aninterface to send/receive data to/from Near Field Communication (NFC)components, Bluetooth® components (e.g., Bluetooth® Low Energy), Wi-Fi®components, and other communication components), and a power managementinterface 520 (e.g., an interface to send/receive power or controlsignals to/from the PMC 412.

The following are example implementations of the subject matterdescribed herein. In example one, an apparatus of a next generation NodeB (gNB) comprises one or more baseband processors to generate anindication for a user equipment (UE) to indicate which synchronizationsignal block (SSB) based measurement timing configuration (SMTC)occasion can be used by the UE for one or more measurements, and to sendthe indication to the UE, and a memory to store the indication. Exampletwo can include the subject matter of example one or any of the examplesdescribed herein, wherein the indication comprises a bitmap associatedwith a specific cell. Example three can include the subject matter ofexample one or any of the examples described herein, wherein theindication comprises a bitmap associated with a specific SSB. Examplefour can include the subject matter of example one or any of theexamples described herein, wherein the indication comprises a bitmapassociated with a specific channel state information reference signal.Example five can include the subject matter of example one or any of theexamples described herein, further comprising a radio-frequency (RF)transceiver to transmit the indication to the UE.

In example six, apparatus of a next generation Node B (gNB) comprisesone or more baseband processors to generate a configuration of aselected time interval between reference signals for an identified cellfor measurement gap based measurement for a user equipment (UE), and tosend the configuration to the UE, and a memory to store theconfiguration. Example seven can include the subject matter of examplesix or any of the examples described herein, wherein a periodicitybetween the reference signals is not fixed for the identified cell.Example eight can include the subject matter of example six or any ofthe examples described herein, wherein the reference signals comprisesynchronization signal block (SSB) signals. Example nine can include thesubject matter of example six or any of the examples described herein,wherein the reference signals comprise channel state informationreference signals (CSI-RS). Example twelve can include the subjectmatter of example six or any of the examples described herein, furthercomprising a radio-frequency (RF) transceiver to transmit the indicationto the UE.

In example eleven, one or more storage media having instructions storedthereon that, when executed by an apparatus of a next generation Node B(gNB), result in generating an indication for a user equipment (UE) toindicate which synchronization signal block (SSB) based measurementtiming configuration (SMTC) occasion can be used by the UE for one ormore measurements, and sending the indication to the UE. Example twelvecan include the subject matter of example eleven or any of the examplesdescribed herein, wherein the indication comprises a bitmap associatedwith a specific cell. Example thirteen can include the subject matter ofexample eleven or any of the examples described herein, wherein theindication comprises a bitmap associated with a specific SSB. Examplefourteen can include the subject matter of example eleven or any of theexamples described herein, wherein the indication comprises a bitmapassociated with a specific channel state information reference signal.

In example fifteen, one or more storage media having instructions storedthereon that, when executed by an apparatus of a next generation Node B(gNB), result in generating a configuration of a selected time intervalbetween reference signals for an identified cell for measurement gapbased measurement for a user equipment (UE), and sending theconfiguration to the UE. Example sixteen can include the subject matterof example fifteen or any of the examples described herein, wherein aperiodicity between the reference signals is not fixed for theidentified cell. Example seventeen can include the subject matter ofexample fifteen or any of the examples described herein, wherein thereference signals comprise synchronization signal block (SSB) signals.Example eighteen can include the subject matter of example fifteen orany of the examples described herein, wherein the reference signalscomprise channel state information reference signals (CSI-RS).

Although the claimed subject matter has been described with a certaindegree of particularity, it should be recognized that elements thereofmay be altered by persons skilled in the art without departing from thespirit and/or scope of claimed subject matter. It is believed that thesubject matter pertaining to enhancement for SMTC configuration for newradio and many of its attendant utilities will be understood by theforgoing description, and it will be apparent that various changes maybe made in the form, construction and/or arrangement of the componentsthereof without departing from the scope and/or spirit of the claimedsubject matter or without sacrificing all of its material advantages,the form herein before described being merely an explanatory embodimentthereof, and/or further without providing substantial change thereto. Itis the intention of the claims to encompass and/or include such changes.

1. An apparatus of a next generation Node B (gNB), comprising: radiofrequency circuitry configured to communicate with a user equipment(UE); and one or more baseband processors communicatively coupled to theradio frequency circuitry and configured to perform operationscomprising: generating an indication for the UE to indicate whichsynchronization signal block (SSB) based measurement timingconfiguration (SMTC) occasion can be used by the UE for one or moremeasurements; and sending the indication to the UE.
 2. The apparatus ofclaim 1, wherein the indication comprises a bitmap associated with aspecific cell.
 3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the indicationcomprises a bitmap associated with a specific SSB.
 4. The apparatus ofclaim 1, wherein the indication comprises a bitmap associated with aspecific channel state information reference signal.
 5. (canceled)
 6. Anapparatus of a next generation Node B (gNB), comprising: radio frequencycircuitry configured to communicate with a user equipment (UE); and oneor more baseband processors communicatively coupled to the radiofrequency circuitry and configured to perform operations comprising:generating a configuration of a selected time interval between referencesignals for an identified cell for measurement gap based measurement forthe UE; and sending the configuration to the UE.
 7. The apparatus ofclaim 6, wherein a periodicity between the reference signals is notfixed for the identified cell.
 8. The apparatus of claim 6, wherein thereference signals comprise synchronization signal block (SSB) signals.9. The apparatus of claim 6, wherein the reference signals comprisechannel state information reference signals (CSI-RS).
 10. (canceled) 11.One or more storage media having instructions stored thereon that, whenexecuted by an apparatus of a next generation Node B (gNB), result in:generating an indication for a user equipment (UE) to indicate whichsynchronization signal block (SSB) based measurement timingconfiguration (SMTC) occasion can be used by the UE for one or moremeasurements; and sending the indication to the UE.
 12. The one or morestorage media of claim 11, wherein the indication comprises a bitmapassociated with a specific cell.
 13. The one or more storage media ofclaim 11, wherein the indication comprises a bitmap associated with aspecific SSB.
 14. The one or more storage media of claim 11, wherein theindication comprises a bitmap associated with a specific channel stateinformation reference signal.
 15. One or more storage media havinginstructions stored thereon that, when executed by an apparatus of anext generation Node B (gNB), result in: generating a configuration of aselected time interval between reference signals for an identified cellfor measurement gap based measurement for a user equipment (UE); andsending the configuration to the UE.
 16. The one or more storage mediaof claim 15, wherein a periodicity between the reference signals is notfixed for the identified cell.
 17. The one or more storage media ofclaim 15, wherein the reference signals comprise synchronization signalblock (SSB) signals.
 18. The one or more storage media of claim 15,wherein the reference signals comprise channel state informationreference signals (CSI-RS).